Improvement in mowing-machines



Smeets-sheen G H W EEKS.

` mowing-Machines. No.158, 553.. ParentedJan.5,1a75.

' UNITED. STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

GEORGE H. WEEKS, OF AURORA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORMOF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO CHARLES B. GOULD, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MOWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 158,553, dated January 5, 1875; application tiled october 15, 1814.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, GEORGE H. WEEKS, of Aurora, county of Cayuga and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Harvester for Reaping and .Mowing; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specilication, in which'- y Figure l is a top view of my improved har-l vester. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same in-the line .r a: of Fig. l, looking toward the outer grain-divider. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section in the line y y, Fig. l, looking toward the drive-wheel. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section of the machine inthe line z z of Fig. l. Figs. 5 and 6 are views of the device for reciprocating the sickle. Figs. 7

` and 8 are views of the device for coupling the sickle to its driving-head. Fig. 9 is a view of the combined caster-wheel and tongue-iron.

The nature of my invention consists, rst, in the combination of the draft-frame to which the cutting apparatus and its driving mechanism is attached with the stirrup or crankarm of the drive-wheel, in such manner that the usual united adjustment of the draft-frame and the stirrup, and the independent adjustment of the draft-frame and cutting apparatus, may be effected and while this is the case, the strain of the pull and resistance upon the machine is removed from the axle of the power-transmitting pinion to the axle of the drive-wheel, and thus the operation of the gearing is not interfered with, and danger of breaking the pinion-shaft avoided. Second, it consists in the combination of the draft-frame, tongue, caster-wheel, and adjusting-lever in such a manner that the fulcrum of the lever is located forward of the shaft of the caster-wheel, upon the -hinging-ironof` the tongue, and the draft-frame is adj usted upon the hinging-pin of the tongue, and the tongue at the same time is left free to vibrate on said pin, and thus any undue strain' upon the draft-pole prevented 5 third, in the combination of the sickle, having a dovetail on its inner end, `a guided drivinghead, having a dovetail socket in its top at its outer end, a hooking-coupling, and a fasteningpin, whereby the head can be introduced to its place, and the two parts united together very conveniently; fourth, in a pendent han ger or bracket of semi-cylindricalibrm at its bottom, applied on the under side of the bedplate of the draft-frame in line with the cutting apparatus, said hanger having end bearings for a short shaft and side ledges, whlch form grooves in its bottom to receive and confine the driving-head of the sickle, 1t also serving for supporting the cutting apparatus and the device which reciprocates the sickle, and for shielding said device and the small vpinion which is on the shaft with it; fifth, 1n the combination of two disks of elliptical or oval form, .set diagonally on a shaft Within the hanger, with their faces parallel to eac-h other, in combination with the sickle-head, having a verticallysliding and horizontally-rotating ball fastened to its heel, and with a pinionV which receives rotary motion from the drive- Wheel for the purpose of moving the sickle back and forth without any lost motion, and y without the great friction experienced from the employment of spiral threads, such as are formed on a screw. Y

In the accompanying drawings, A represents an ordinary driving-wheel, having .a toothed spur-ring, B, on its inner face. The teeth of ring B may be on the inner or outer circumference of the ring. The wheel A 1s fitted on a short axle, (hand on the outer. end

of this axle the drivers seat G is mounted.

gated, so as to allow the shaft back and forward play in the direction of the pull and re-` sistance on the machine. By this means the strain and pull are prevented from comin g upon the pinion-shaft, as will presently be explained. G G are shoulders or offsets on the outer side l of the stirrup. L'lhese shoulders are immedii ately under the arched segmental bracket, and" when the draft-frame is pulled forward and the stirrup held back by the traction of thev wheel, the arched bracket bears, firmly against these offsets, and thus the strain land resistance is removed from the pinion-shaft F and transferred to the axle C of the drive -wheeL H is a pinion on the outer end of theaxle for receiving the power from the toothed ring B of the drive-wheel. I is an ordinary clutch, and I the clutch-lever for throwingthe. pinion in and out of gear with its shaft F-that is, making the pinion either fast or loose on its shaft, as may be desired. The draft-frame and stirrup are to be, as usual, constructed S0 as to permit the bodily adjustment of the cutting apparatus with the stirrup. J is a bracket, pendent from the under side of the draft- I'rame. This bracket is in form of an inverted arch, and its bottom portion is a true semicylinder. At the ends of this bracket bearing-boxes c c are formed, and on its bottom under-beveled side ledges d d are fastened or cast, so as to form a central groove, f, and side grooves f ff. K is a short shaft fitted in the boxes c c, so as to revolve but not to move longitudinally. On this shaft the device L L1 L2, for moving the sickle, is placed diagonally, as shown. The pl ttes L1 L2 of this device are elliptical or oval in form, and have their faces parallel to each other when on the shaft K. These pla-tes are fastened to the parallel faces of the diagonal hub L by means ot' screws e e, so that they may be removed, and the. faces of the hub ground of, so as to have the plates set nearer together. This becomes necessary when the parts wear so as to leave play room. M is the sickle-head, made with beveled edges, which lit under the ledges d d of the grooves f', formed in the bottom of the bracket J. This head has a vertical pin projecting up from its heel, and on this pin a spherical ball, N, is'loosely fitted, so as to revolve freely and slide up and down slightly. The ball plays between the diagonal plates L1 L2, and as the shaft revolves the faces of the plates impinge successively upon the ball, one plate moving the ball and head to the right and the other to the left, and whatever may be the position of the plates the bearing upon thev ball will always be maintained by one or the other of the same. The motion of theshaft is produced by means of the pinion 0 on its outer end gearing with the pinion O' on shaft F, which carries the pinion H, which gears with the spur-ring B of the drive-wheel. The finger-bar is rigidly fastened to the bracket J, and its sickle is coupled to the head M by means of a dovetail, g, on the inner end of' the sickle, Which'tits in a dovetail socket, h, of the head, and is fastened in position by a hook-- ing-coupling, i, and a pin, j, as shown in the drawings. By this means of connecting the sickle to the head, facilities for removing the sickle for sharpening or other purpose, without disturbing the other parts, are secured, and convenience in rst attaching the head and sickle to the machine is afforded. The tongue or draft-pole S of the machine is connected by ahinge-pin to the forward-extending brackets 7c kof the box P, in which the caster-wheel P swivels, said box P being fastened to the front end of the draft-frame, or cast thereon, as maybe found most desirable. The adjusting-lever Q of the caster-wheel is extended from the rear of the draft-frame, and its forward end, which is forked, is pivoted to the gimbal-joint boxt of the caster-wheel, and also to a pin passed through two ears, m m, cast on the top of the brackets 7c 7c, as shown in the drawings. The rear end of this lever is, as usual, looped around a perforated standard, R, and by means of a pin inserted through .the lever and the standard, any adjustments which maybe made are retained as long as desired.

1t will be noticed that the rear end of the tongue is on the same fulcrum that the brackets k 7c swing on, and therefore, when the lever is depressed, the caster-wheel will be lowered and the frame raised without binding the tongue or interfering with its free motion.

One great advantage in the construction of the device which reciprocates the sickle of oval plates is, that the hanger in which it rotates may be made much smaller in diameter than if the plates were made of circular disks.

It will be understood that the orbit of the elongated plates, set diagonal, is no greater than the diameter of the cylinder from which they are cut diagonally. Therefore, while the elliptical plates give a great length of throw to the sickle back and forth, they dov not require any more room than is required for their shorter diameter to move in.

What I claim as my invention is l. Thecombination of the segmental bracket E', stirrup D, elongated passage b, bearingolfsets G, pinion-shaft F,and axle C, whereby the stirrup, notwithstanding it -is lfitted upon the pinion-shaft, and is capable of raising and lowering it as required, is prevented from pulling upon and straining said shaft F when the machine .is in operation, substantially as set forth.

2. The .combined caster-wheel and draftpole iron, constructed with a swivel-box, P, for the shaft of the caster-Wheel to swivel in, with two hin ging-brackets, 7c, for the draftpole to hinge upon, and with two ears, m, for the adjusting-lever Q to be pi voted to, in combination with the tongue S, the caster-Wheel P', the draft-frame E, and the adj ustin g-lever Q, substantially in the manner vand for the purpose described.

3. The combination of the dovetail g on the end of the sickle-bar, the dovetail socket h in the driving-head M, the hooking-coupling i, and the pinj, substantially'in the manner shown and described. i

4. The inverted arch-shaped pendent han ger J on the under side of the bed-plate of the draft-frame, 'and in line with the cutting apparatus, constructedwith end bearings for a short shaft, and with guiding-ledges on its bottom to confine and guide the driving-head of the sickle, and serving for supporting the cutting apparatus and the device which reciprocates the sickle, and also shieldingsaid device and the pinion, which is on the same shaft with it, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The sickle-driver arranged on the piniondriving shaft K, and Within -the hanger J, formed of two oval disks, L11?, which are placed diagonally on the shafta short distance apart, with their faces parallel, in combination with the ball N on the perpendicular exten-` sion of the heel of thesickle-loar, and passed directly into the groove formed between the Working faces of the disks, substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

GEORGE H. WEEKS.

Witnesses: Y

. WM. HOWLAND,

ALDEN E. ROBINSON. 

